The second main boss you’ll encounter in No Rest for the Wicked is Falstead Darak, a towering figure wielding a large sword, and a great shield. Compared to Warrick the Torn, Darak is far more aggressive, but not as difficult as he might first appear. This guide will walk you through the best strategy to deal the most damage and avoid getting hit.
How to take down Falstead Darak Boss
Keep in mind, that this guide covers the first encounter you’ll have with Darak. Once you get him down to 25-30% of his health, he’ll scurry away. I fought him at Level 5, but I imagine you can get by even at Level 4. Here is the build I took him down with.
Most of his attacks can be parried, but dodging is the preferred approach. When you first encounter him, he’ll have a mob of soldiers with him. These don’t respawn on your subsequent attempts, so take them down on your first try even if it means you die in the result.
After that, you and Darak will be alone in the arena. Darak starts the battle with a plunge attack that can be avoided if you run or move in the other direction. Most of Darak’s attacks are a series of slashes that can be dodged, thanks to the invincibility frames. Darak will tire out after a long combo, so make good use of this state.
Don’t be afraid to run to the other side of the arena if you want to learn his patterns or heal. Unlike Warrick, he doesn’t have a thrust attack that can close the distance fast.
Once he aims in your general direction, you can dodge to his back, and start slashing away. Don’t get greedy though, because he’ll likely follow up with an attack behind him that’s either a large slash or a kick. The kick stuns you momentarily and does a decent amount of damage. Thankfully, it’s easy to tell when he’s about to kick, and you can dodge to the side, or to his back.
Darak also performs a series of hard-hitting attacks, in which he smashes his shield or sword to the ground four times. These should be dodged, and if you’re brave enough, you can land a hit between each smash. If you’re intimidated by these, running to the other side is a valid approach, too.
Parry to Victory
There’s an attack in which he lifts his sword to attack you, and I recommend parrying that one at least. It’s very slow and gives you enough time to time your parry correctly. After stunning him, you can easily get 4 to 5 hits in with a short sword.
For 90% of the fight though, you just need to dodge into his attacks, get behind him, deal damage, and repeat. When you bring him down to around 30% of his health, he’ll run away.
I hope this guide was helpful! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below.